Most patients who are ingesting nutrition from liquid food or a liquid diet are weak, and this inhibits the delivery of food contained in the stomach to the small intestine. Therefore, they tend to vomit when their stomachs are filled with a certain amount of liquid food.
In order to prevent these patients from suffering from emesis of this type, the following methods have conventionally been adopted: a method in which the rate of feeding liquid food to the patients is decreased; a method in which the amount of liquid food to be fed is decreased; a method in which liquid food is diluted to promote its flow from the stomach to the small intestine; and a method in which the patients are encouraged to sit in a position considered to be ideal. Other methods have also been adopted in which medicines are used to assist the delivery of liquid food from the stomach to the small intestine and in which pregelatinized liquid food is fed to the patients.
The above-described methods however involve several problems. In the case where the rate of feeding is decreased, it is necessary to feed liquid food to the patients for many hours; where the amount of liquid food is reduced, the patients may be undernourished; and where liquid food is diluted, it becomes necessary to feed it in a large quantity. Moreover, it is difficult to prevent the patients from vomiting merely by having them sit in a position considered to be appropriate. On the other hand, it is better to avoid using medicines as much as possible. Further, if liquid food is gelatinized, it is necessary to forcibly feed the gelatinized food to the patients. In addition, when attempts are made to supply the pregelatinized food by way of a tube, it tends to clog the tube.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide antiemetic food products that can prevent patients from suffering from emesis associated with the ingestion of liquid food and that are fit even for intubation feeding.